Environment Agency shuts factory polluting the Rio Almonda

The Portuguese Environment Agency has been doing its job by closing down a factory that for years has been pumping toxic waste into a Portuguese river.

The factory is owned by Fabrióleo whose owners have allowed its output to pollute the Rio Almonda with oils and chemicals.

The decision to shut down the site was taken by the Portuguese Environment Agency and Agência para a Competitividade e Inovação (IAPMEI).

In fact, the plant was ordered to be shut down as of January 30th this year but carried on regardless as the law allows 30 days within which a defence can be lodged in court.

It took five surveys of the factory’s processes for the Environment Agency to act, with the back-up of IAPMEI which had analysed the health and environmental aspects of the plant's operation.

The company, based in Torres Novas, produces specialist vegetable oils, but according to the Portuguese Environment Agency, "the wastewater treatment system presents environmental risks and a high potential for the formation of highly toxic compounds with negative impact on the bodies of water downstream of the discharge.”

Next on the Environmental Agency's list is Celtejo and the foam pollution outbreak on the Tagus.